1. رَف الربيعُ على الشتاءِ الماحل

    ورقدتَ أنت صريع هذا الساحل

    Spring fluttered over barren winter,

    And you lay, a victim of this shore.

  2. اصغرتَ آلافَ الفراسخ جائزا

    هذا العباب كعابر لجداول

    You made light of thousands of leagues, crossing

    This surging sea like one crossing streams.

  3. وقدمتَ تُزجيك المحبة والوفا

    هَزِجاً تدوس على عديد حوائل

    And you came, borne onward by love and loyalty,

    Singing joyfully, treading over many obstacles.

  4. أنَّى ترحَّل أو أقام فَحوله

    زُمَرٌ تَحَّدثُ عن نهىً وشمائلِ

    Wherever he traveled or stayed, around him

    Were groups speaking of wisdom and noble traits.

  5. متهللاً معنى الشباب رواوءه

    وخلاله كحديثه المتفائل

    His looks beamed with the very essence of youth,

    As did his character, like his hopeful talk.

  6. تتفيأُ الألبابُ في آدابه

    وكأنَّها من أنسه بخمائل

    Minds found shade in his refinement,

    As though his warmth had set them among leafy groves.

  7. ماذا دهاك وأنتَ زينةُ مجلسٍ

    ورجاءُ أحبابِ ونفحةُ بابل

    What befell you, the adornment of gatherings,

    The hope of loved ones, a fragrant breath of Babylon,

  8. حتى سكنت الى الممات وطالما

    قد كنت تهزأ بالممات الهازل

    That you found repose in death, though so often

    You had mocked death, the jester?

  9. كنتَ الرياضيَّ العفيفَ مُساجلاً

    فسقطت من غدر المصاب الهائل

    You were the upright athlete in contest,

    Yet you fell to the treachery of a terrible calamity.

  10. كنت المثقف والأديب حياتهُ

    هبةُ الفنونِ لأمةٍ ومحافل

    You were the intellectual and writer whose life

    Was the arts' gift to a nation and its gatherings.

  11. وذهبت لا هذى الدموع سخينة

    تكفى لتبيان العذاب الجائل

    And you departed. These burning tears cannot

    Suffice to reveal the anguish coursing within.

  12. كلا ولا الأديان فيما فسرت

    لتجيب عن ظُلم القضاءِ الخاذل

    No, nor can religions, with their explanations,

    Account for the injustice of fate that forsakes us;

  13. أو حيرةُ المتبادلين عزاءهم

    لتحَّد من ذُعر الحزين الذاهل

    Nor can the bewilderment of those exchanging condolences

    Quell the terror of the dazed mourner.

  14. جاء الممات من الحياة وقبله

    جاء الوجود من الفناء الشامل

    Death came from life, and before it

    Existence came from all-encompassing nothingness.

  15. صور تضل لها العقول وربما

    أغنى الغبُّى عن الحصيف العاقل

    Images that leave minds bewildered; and perhaps

    The fool can take the place of the discerning sage.

  16. والعمرُ كيف العمر حظّ مقامرٍ

    والحُّق كيف الحُّق أفظع باطل

    And life—what is life? A gambler's luck.

    And truth—what is truth? The most hideous falsehood.

  17. ضيعتُ فلسفتي مراراً صاغرا

    ووأدتُ تعزيتي أمام القاتل

    Time and again, humbled, I cast aside my philosophy,

    And buried my solace alive in the killer's presence.

  18. إن كان إعزازُ الكمال فناءَه

    فالحمقُ ان نحيا حياة الكامل

    If honoring perfection means its annihilation,

    Then it is folly to live the life of the perfect.

  19. ونرى السوائم راتعين بنعمةٍ

    ونرى المواهب في الحضيض السافل

    And we see grazing beasts reveling in abundance,

    And we see talents in the lowest depths,

  20. ونرى الصباحَةَ والقسامَةَ في الثرى

    ونرى الحقارة في أعزّ منازل

    And we see beauty and comeliness in the dust,

    And we see baseness in the loftiest abodes.

  21. يا من عَددتُكَ في صميم جوارحي

    ولدى ومن زودتُ منه فضائلي

    O you I counted as part of my very flesh,

    My son, and one from whom I replenished my virtues,

  22. فيمَ الرثاءُ وذاك عُرسكُ قادمٌ

    أيصير عرسك لحن قلب الثاكل

    Why this elegy, when your wedding is drawing near?

    Will your wedding become a bereaved heart's song?

  23. كنا نهيئ مسعدين شرابه

    فسقى الردى نخب الشباب الآفل

    We were preparing its drink to bring joy,

    Then death poured a toast to youth as it faded.

  24. إن كان هذا عدل دنيا حرةٍ

    بئسَ الجزاء من القضاء العادل

    If this is the justice of a free world,

    What wretched recompense from just fate!